Excelsior Jeweler Makes Rings Come True

When Brian Walters was 16 he began working at the factory of a large jewelry company.

The company determined that he had excellent hand-eye coordination skills and immediately tasked him with carrying out some of the finer details of making jewelry. Eventually he had learned all the steps of jewelry making.

“It starts with an idea,” Walters said.

The idea is followed by a model of the design, assembling the jewelry and finally completing the finishing touches.

Walters opened his first shop about 25 years ago when business at his home began overflowing and taking over his house. Currently, BW Goldsmith “the Ring Maker” is located on Water Street in Excelsior.

In the office portion of his business, customers can watch Walters do the fine details of their jewelry, such as setting the stones.

Walters emphasized that the inspiration for his designs comes from his customers. While his customers talk about such things as the way they dress, the decorations in their home and the activities they do for work or fun, Walters is busy listening and taking notes. He even takes into account how his customers want to feel when they’re wearing the jewelry and what they want people to say when they see it.

“I just start getting ideas,” he said. “That’s the fun part.”

Walters called most parts of jewelry making as fun, including as coming up with his own designs and figuring out how to create those designs.

When he gets some peace and quiet, Walters said, he sits down and starts drawing. The challenge is to design jewelry that is simple, different and easy to wear.

Seeing the problems that his customers have had with rings influenced him to develop a design for a ring that does not twist on the finger. He calls his solution the "Ultra-8" for the octagonal shape on the inside.

 “Everybody wants it when they see it,” Walters claimed proudly.

Another collection of his designs are inspired by the 1920s and 1930s but, Walters added, with a contemporary twist. He enjoys turning the old into something new.

Although rings make up more than half of his business, Walters also designs necklaces, bracelets, earrings and he has even designed a belly button ring for a customer. In 2008 he won a prestigious industry award for one of his earring designs.

One of the aspects he enjoys most about designing jewelry is working with people. His customers are generally happy when they come see him because they are celebrating a special time in their lives, like a wedding, engagement or anniversary. He enjoys his customers’ reactions when they see the finished work and finds satisfaction in customers telling others about his work.

“Eighty percent of my business is referrals,” Walters said.

One referral came from a woman for whom he made an engagement ring. The person she referred was her daughter. For the daughter, he designed a wedding ring.

It’s those types of stories, Walters explained, that keeps him designing and making jewelry.